Since the early days of arcade gaming and single player games started making their way onto the scene, the concept of “Man Vs. Machine” has been a challenge taken seriously by many gamers. That seriousness was documented in the famous The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which set the standard for visually documenting the conflicts of high score competition on video arcade games. It also renewed interest in the classic Donkey Kong as many other gamers decided to take a crack at getting that high score.
A new documentary is now in post-production that is tackling the same sense of competition and regaining lost glory on an arcade title, albeit with a game that is a bit more obscure than Donkey Kong. MAN vs SNAKE: The Long And Twisted Tale of Nibbler details the the history of a Rock-Ola arcade title called Nibbler, whose claim to fame back in the day was being the first video game to feature a high score table that could handle 1 billion+ points. The game itself is an evolution of a pre-Space Invaders fad established by games like Dominos, Barricade and Big Foot Bonkers; within the public’s cultural consciousness the concept is known just as ‘Snake’. It is a little strange that Nibbler missed out on the credit that was earned by crude representations of the idea on graphical calculators. The first player to break the 1 billion point barrier was Tim McVey (pictured above at a new world record attempt in 2011) but like all good stories involving a record breaking high score, it did not end there.
MAN vs SNAKE is currently running a Kickstarter funding goal, which you can view here. And to show what they have put together already, here is a trailer (Warning for some strong language used a few times).
[Official MAN vs SNAKE Website]
